Ezekiel 26:2

2 Thou, son of man, for that that Tyre said of Jerusalem, Well! the gates of peoples be broken, it is turned to me; I shall be filled, it is forsaken; (Thou, son of man, because Tyre hath said of Jerusalem, Well! the gateway to the nations is broken, and it is open to me; I shall be filled, it is deserted;)

Ezekiel 26:2 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 26:2

Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem,
aha
As rejoicing at her destruction, and insulting over her in it; which was barbarous and inhuman, and resented by the Lord: she is broken that was the gates of the people;
through whose gates the people went in and out in great numbers; a city to which there was very popular, not only for religion, from all parts, at their solemn feasts, but for merchandise from several parts of the world; and was now full of people before its destruction, the inhabitants of Judea having fled thither for safety, upon the invasion made by the king of Babylon; but now the city was broken up, as it is said it was, by the Chaldean army, ( Jeremiah 52:7 ) , its gates and walls were broken down, and lay in a ruinous condition. The Targum is,

``she is broken down that afforded merchandise to all people.''
She is turned unto me;
either the inhabitants of Jerusalem, which escaped and fled to Tyre for refuge; or the spoil taken out of it, which was carried there to be sold; and even the captives themselves to be sold for slaves, which was one part of the merchandise of Tyre; see ( Ezekiel 27:3 ) , or the business, trade, and merchandise carried on in Jerusalem, were brought to Tyre upon its destruction; so Jarchi and Kimchi. The Targum is,
``she is turned to come unto me;''
which favours the first sense; all may be intended. I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste;
or, "I shall be filled" {b}; with inhabitants, riches, and wealth, with merchants and merchandise, Jerusalem her rival being destroyed; this was what gave her joy; and is a common thing for persons to rejoice at the fall or death of those of the same trade with them; hoping for an increase of theirs by means of it, which yet is sinful.
FOOTNOTES:

F2 (halma) "implebor", Cocceius, Starckius.

Ezekiel 26:2 In-Context

1 And it was done in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month (on the first day of the month), the word of the Lord was made to me, and he said,
2 Thou, son of man, for that that Tyre said of Jerusalem, Well! the gates of peoples be broken, it is turned to me; I shall be filled, it is forsaken; (Thou, son of man, because Tyre hath said of Jerusalem, Well! the gateway to the nations is broken, and it is open to me; I shall be filled, it is deserted;)
3 therefore the Lord God saith these things, Lo! Tyre, I on thee; and I shall make many folks to ascend to thee, as the sea flowing ascendeth. (and so the Lord God saith these things, Lo! Tyre, I am against thee; and I shall make many nations to ascend against thee, like the flowing sea ascendeth.)
4 And they shall destroy the walls of Tyre, and they shall destroy the towers thereof; and I shall raze the dust thereof from it, and I shall give it into a most clear stone. (And they shall destroy the walls of Tyre, and they shall destroy its towers; and I shall raze, or shall sweep away, even the dust from it, and I shall make it into a very clean, or a very bare, rock.)
5 Drying of nets [it] shall be in the midst of the sea, for I spake, saith the Lord God. And Tyre shall be into ravishing to heathen men. (It shall be for the drying of nets in the midst of the sea, for I have spoken, saith the Lord God. And Tyre shall be for robbing, or for spoils, for the heathen.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.